Photography Class 1

Yesterday I went to my very first photography class. We bought our EOS camera almost 2 years ago and even after trying to read the manual, I still don't know how to properly use the darn thing. There are so many settings and most of my pictures just do not come out right. I almost always end up using Auto. Today I learned that is bad. I learned all about WB- White Balance, Av- Aperture, Tv- Shutter Speed and many other things. It is definitely going to be a learning experience through trial and error, but from just one class (which was almost 6 hours long) I feel like I know SO MUCH more about my camera. This makes me VERY happy. With all of the trips we go on and all the nieces and nephews, I need to learn to capture all these precious moments as best as I can. Since we spent a lot of money on the camera, it would also make me feel better about it. So here are a few things I learned. They are not the most interesting photos, but they show you what I am learning to do. We have 2 more classes and lots of homework. I can't wait to practice in Boracay. ;)

This may not look great, but I learned how the WB and shutter time can make a huge difference in the light in the picture. This was sitting in the teacher's apartment and just aiming at the window. Great view, huh?

Here is our teacher, Baja (pronounced Buy-ya). She is from Holland and use to be a lawyer and then changed careers. She was great. This is a photo of her moving. We learned how to adjust the shutter speed and make a moving person, or object be still. I think this will be very useful for sports and dance photos and the like.

I am pretty proud of this one. I know it's not great, but it took about 50 tries to get it semi-right. This was learning how to make a moving object still, and blur the background. Go me!

 This was an attempt at the guy being still and background blurry. He was too close to me though. However, I like the picture anyway. This is a typical scene in Shanghai. Lots of men and women pedal these bikes with stuff on the back. Sometimes they are packed so high, it amazes me they can even move the bike! I will try and get a snapshot of that someday.

I liked the "store" here in the alley way. All kinds of good stuff to buy! Another typical sight in Shanghai.

Here I liked the colors and lightening. This was nothing special, but again another little "restaurant" in Shanghai. This was a "walk up and buy place".

So, that was session 1. I have some interesting homework to do. I will be learning how to focus on certain things and blur backgrounds and foregrounds too. I didn't have a good picture of that to show, but once I do my homework, I will share it with you. That's all for now. I am off to go enjoy the sunshine with Krystle and Amanda. Happy weekend!

C